For A Few Reviews More

The Day The Earth Day Stood Still

December 12th, 2008 admin

2008
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates, Jaden Smith, John Cleese, James Hong, Jon Hamm
Director: Scott Derrickson
Runtime: 100 Minutes
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Rating: PG-13

One of the most seminal films to be born out of science fiction’s golden era, Robert Wise’s cautionary tale of a benevolent alien sent to warn mankind of its impending destruction becomes the latest classic to be rolled out for a big budget digital makeover – this time at the hands of The Exorcism of Emily Rose director Scott Derrickson. Keanu Reeves steps into the role of Klaatu, the austere interstellar messenger sent by a coalition of alien worlds to determine if we’re capable of altering our destructive ways and render judgment in the form of extermination if we’re not.

But for a film about the end of the world, it’s hard to conceive a film with less ambition. Anybody expecting The Day After Tomorrow type destruction will do well to just stay home. Anybody worried they might have to sit through some thinly veiled sermon soaked in hippie ideals and kum-by-ya politics can relax because the film doesn’t even bother to do that.

Click here to read the full review at WiFly Radio.

Posted in Feature Films, Reviews, Sci-Fi | 2 Comments »

Children of Men

September 16th, 2008 admin

2006
Starring: Clive Owen, Michael Caine, Julianna Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Claire-Hope Ashiety, Pam Ferris
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Runtime: 109 Minutes
Distributor: Universal
Rating: R

Having originally written the screenplay for Children of Men in 2001, director Alfonso Cuaron choose to put the project on hold whilst he directed Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Working in England on that project exposed Cuaron to what he called “British reality,” and he became fascinated with the social dynamics that make up what he saw as one of the most multicultural countries in the western world. Transposing what he had seen and learned in Britain to his pre-existing script, he finally felt the film had become fully realized and he moved confidently into production.

That confidence was seemingly well founded as Children of Men is an absolute blistering ride from start to finish that grabs you by the balls and simply does not let go. Set in a bleak and dystopian Britain in the year 2027, humankind is on the verge of social collapse and has not seen a human give birth for over eighteen years. Social paranoia and xenophobia are rampant with the military combating an ongoing guerilla terrorist campaign by hunting down immigrants and shipping them off to prison camps for “processing” and eventual deportation.

A Scanner Darkly

September 10th, 2008 admin

2006
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Robert Downey Jr, Woodey Harrelson, Rorey Cochrane, Cliff Haby
Director: Richard Linklater
Runtime: 100 Minutes
Distributor: Warner Independent Pictures
Rating: R

Originally penned in the wake of acclaimed author and intermittent drug addict Philip K. Dick’s own, much publicised, personal battle with amphetamines, A Scanner Darkly is regarded by many fans to be his finest work, a statement that should immediately make one sit up and pay attention. A cynical and bleak portrait (literally) of co-dependency, symbiotic hypocrisy, and fractured reality, this tale of a Big Brother afflicted, psychotropic drug addicted near future blurs the line between perception and reality to the point where it simply ceases to exist.

Shot on film and then digitally animated into a psychedelic kaleidoscope of swirling patterns of light and color via a techinque called rotoscope, the story tells of a future society in which two of every ten citizens are in the employ of the state to monitor and report on the other eight. Agent Fred is one such undercover operative. With his identity hidden from everyone including his handlers by way of a scramble suit, which constantly jumbles the features and distorts the voice of the wearer, he is tasked to infiltrate a group of Substance D users and try to find a lead to its manufacture and distribution. Fred is ordered to focus his attention on Bob Arctor (Reeves), whom authorities believe can lead them to the source. But Fred has himself become addicted to Substance D, which has caused the two hemispheres of his brain to begin to function independently. They have ceased to be able to combine their knowledge, memories and skills, causing them to diverge into what is essentially two distinctly different personalities.

Akira

September 10th, 2008 admin

1988
Starring: Mitsuo Iwata, Nozumo Sasaika, Mami Koyamo, Taro Ishida
Director: Katsuhiro Otomo
Runtime: 124 Minutes
Distributor: MGM
Rating: R

Though it did not reach the big screen until 1988, this apocalyptic cyberpunk epic had existed for years, running in the form of a comic that had at the time of the movie exceeded more than 2000 pages. While the feature film adaptation is of course less dense and less detailed, it will still always be known as the film that built the bridge between Japanese anime and western audiences. Akira opened the floodgates for the huge anime craze that swept the west in the early nineties and paved the way for them to become a respectable cinematic art form.

The story is one of a bleak and terrifying future. In 1989 Tokyo is destroyed by a massive explosion of psionic energy emanating from the subject of a secret military project. Mistakenly thought by the governments of the world to be a nuclear blast, the incident triggers World War Three. Thirty years later on the ashes of complete devastation sits Neo Tokyo. Now a police state, gangs of delinquent youths on high-powered motorcycles wage war with both the authorities and each other. In the shadows, a growing terrorist organization attacks official buildings in an effort to destabilize the ineffectual government. But the military has not abandoned its experiments of psychic energy and paranoid Col. Shikishima has been using children with ESP to monitor the city. When a dissident raid sees one of them kidnapped from the facility, the child comes into contact with Tetsuo, a motorcycle thug. The encounter leaves Tetsuo with an imprint of psychic energy that quickly threatens to grow beyond anything that can be controlled and once again bring complete destruction to all of Neo Tokyo.

Alien: Director’s Cut

September 9th, 2008 admin

Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerrit, Ian Holm, John Hurt, Yaphet Koto, Harry Dean Stanton, Veronica Cartwright
Director: Ridley Scott
Runtime: 117 Minutes
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Rating: R

Ridley Scott’s 1979 classic certainly ranks as one of the single most influential science fiction films of all time. One that spawned a thousand imitators and a hugely successful franchise of its own. Not only did it revolutionize the science fiction genre, but it is a film that’s simply so frightening that the debate still rages as to whether it is in fact a horror film instead. With Alien, Scott delivered one of the first truly regressive depictions of the future to appear on screen. Light years away from the great white mind going into the vast unknown to further benefit mankind, the likes of 2001 and Forbidden Planet, Scott’s deep space is a blue collar world. A working man’s space where expanding our knowledge of the universe is a very small consideration when placed next to the idea of getting home and getting paid. This is space for poor people. A rusting metallic hulk, hauling ore through a cold and indifferent vacuum, (where no one can hear you scream of course) crewed by people who ultimately like traveling the stars about as much as the person on the other end of the phone likes listening to you when you call for the third time this year to tell that you’re certain this time that last month’s gas bill was incorrect.

Aliens: Director’s Cut

September 6th, 2008 admin

1986

Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, Paul Reiser, William Hope, Janette Goldstein
Director: James Cameron
Runtime: 154 Minutes
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Rating: R

This film, along with Terminator 2, is definitive proof that James Cameron and only James Cameron should be allowed to direct sequels to universally acclaimed classics. The follow up to Ridley Scott’s iconic 1979 deep space chiller Alien was in fact quite a risk for Cameron and in the hands of a different director could easily have ended up as the worst kind of disaster (see Robocop 2). Instead Aliens is that most rare of cinematic fables, the unicorn of the silver screen, a sequel that genuinely surpasses the original in almost every respect – not only offering due diligence to the existing world of the story and its weighty mythology, but expanding those ideas while simultaneously taking them in a completely new direction. Once more reprising the role of Ellen Ripley is Sigourney Weaver, delivering a turn that would confirm her as one of cinemas most revered screen heroines and land her a Best Actress Oscar nomination in the process.

As the last surviving member of the Nostromo, Ripley’s shuttle is finally discovered with her in a state of cryogenic sleep after more than fifty-seven years. With the company less than impressed with her version of events, they discount her fevered claims that the terraforming colony that now exists on LV-426 is in terrible danger. But when contact with the colony is lost, Ripley reluctantly returns to the planet with a crack squad of marines to assess the situation with little or no idea what awaits them.

Blade Runner: The Definitive Cut

September 3rd, 2008 admin

1984 (2007)
Starring: Harrison ford, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, Rutget Hauer, Daryl Hannah, Brion James, William Sanderson, Joe Turkel, M. Emmet Walsh
Director: Ridley Scott
Runtime: 118 Minutes
Distributor: Warner Bros
Rating: R

Although initially considered a massive box office failure, Scott’s terrifying depiction of the future has as we approach it’s 25th anniversary evolved into one of the most enigmatic, influential and revered films of all time, and this new, definitive edition is, according to Scott, as close to his original vision as is possible.

Many continue to speculate as to why exactly, given its popularity, it took audiences and critics so long to warm up to Scott’s bleak vision and elevate it to the iconic status that it now enjoys. Being released the same week as the year’s highest grossing film, and another sci-fi fantasy, E.T surely didn’t help. Perhaps Harrison ford was a victim of his own success with people expecting more of a light hearted, tongue-in-cheek character in the vein of a Han Solo or an Indiana Jones. Or maybe it was simply a case of it all being a little too much for people to take on board; they wanted a futuristic shoot ‘em up and what they got was a very slow burning noir laced with heady meditations on the nature of mortality.

Transformers

August 29th, 2008 admin

2007
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Rachael Taylor, Jon Voight, John Turturro, Peter Cullen, Bernie Mac
Director: Michael Bay
Runtime: 144 Minutes
Distributor: Paramount
Rating: PG-13

Many a suit scoffed and sniggered when this idea was originally banded around Tinseltown, and rightly so. After all, despite whatever logistical problems might be involved in bringing a concept as high as this one to fruition, and there are many, there was a bigger problem. Where could they possibly find someone who can handle such epic battles between giant robots, huge explosions and hi-octane carnage, and at the same time offer due diligence to the wonder and attention span of a twelve-year-old boy to effectively capture the correct sensibilities. Well, step forward Michael Bay.

This live action adaptation of the classic cartoon series that began in the 80’s and is still going strong today finds young Sam Witwiky (LaBeouf) all revved up about his first car. It is an old beat up Camero, which just happens to be a sophisticated Alien-Robot hybrid, from another galaxy, known as Bumblebee the Autobot. On a mission to locate Sam, Bumblebee and the rest of the Autobots must act quickly to discover the location of a powerful artifact that crashed to Earth long ago before being discovered by one of Sam’s ancestors. Hoping to find it first are the Deceptions, sworn enemies of the Autobots, who seek not only the artifact, but their missing leader, the malevolent Megatron.

Alien 3: Director’s Cut

August 27th, 2008 admin

1992
Starring: Signourney Weaver, Charles S. Dutton, Charles Dance, Brian Glover, Paul McGann, Ralph Brown, Danny Webb, Pete Postlethwaite, Lance Henriksen
Director: David Fincher
Runtime: 138 Minutes
Distributor” 20th Century Fox
Rating: R

Whilst a competent enough conclusion to arguably the most stunning science fiction saga ever conceived, Alien 3 remains one of the finest examples of “too many cooks…” with Fox apparently setting out to make a release date instead of a film. Original director Rennie Harlen worked on the project for a year and then passed, citing studio interference. Story writer Vincent Ward left soon after citing “creative differences” (read: studio interference). Michael Biehn was reportedly extremely interested in reprising his role and was snubbed – though incidentally he was paid more money for the use of that one photograph than he was for the whole of Aliens. Signourney Weaver apparently had no interest at all in reprising hers and had to be coaxed with a big fat check.

Having taken Ward’s rather splendid idea of a wooden world inhabited by space monks and by committee turned it into a rather crap idea about prisoners at an abandoned refinery, it became clear that Fox was not simply going to let this one be. After pre-production was essentially shut down for three months David Fincher was finally drafted in at the eleventh hour. Fincher had no script to work with and was handed fresh pages and rewrites on an almost daily basis. Fearing that the only way he could get any control was to just get the shooting underway and get enough in the can that they would have no choice but to let him continue, he rushed the project forward as quickly as he could. The result is a jumbled mess of quite stunning art direction, blistering camera work and a script so awful that it’s almost better to watch the film on mute.

Alien Resurrection: Director’s Cut

August 26th, 2008 admin

1997
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder, Ron Pearlman, Michael Wincott, Dominique Pinon, Raymond Cruz, Brad Dourif
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeneut
Runtime: 111 Minutes
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Rating: R

Alien Resurrection is not a very popular entity. It is the cinematic equivalent of your really hot girlfriend’s annoying pal or that God awful irritating relative that you have to suffer through at Christmas time when you all gather at Grandma’s, but you go because of the good presents you get from everybody else. People accept it by association, because it is a part of something larger they love. Ask anyone but the most die hard Alien fanatic if they own this film and if they do it is almost a certainty that it is as part of the complete series box set. For all the shit David Fincher put up with over Alien 3, he must have been laughing uncontrollably in the dark over this one because this film is his vindication. A stunning testament to not so much how right he was, but how wrong he wasn’t. Alien Resurrection shows what can happen when a big, powerful studio gets it wrong on absolutely every single conceivable level; from the script to the casting, through the director to the marketing campaign. The fact that it still managed to make $150 million worldwide back in the day when that was quite respectable is a testament to just how strong the legacy of Scott, Cameron, and to a certain extent, Fincher’s installments remain even to this day.

Resurrection continues the ballad of sci-fi’s first lady 200 years after she bought it back on Fury 161. A secret military research facility has been busy, finally managing to successfully clone a Ripley of their own, complete with an alien queen inside her. A band of smugglers lead by a gruff Michael Wincott arrive to deliver a hijacked cargo of hibernating humans to serve as hosts as a new hive of beasties is bred for weaponry. No surprise what happens next and before long what little remains of the station’s personnel, the smugglers and Ripley are once again fleeing for their lives against the familiar backdrop of deepest, darkest space.